You may recall that the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) reported last month that March-May was the hottest in more than 120 years of record-keeping. Well, the JMA reported Monday that last month was the hottest June in more than 120 years of record-keeping.

That makes 3 straight record-breaking months for JMA — the hottest second quarter on record. It also means we had the hottest March-June on record.

And these records occurred despite the fact we’re still waiting for the start of El Nino. It is usually the combination of the underlying long-term warming trend and the regional El Niño warming pattern that leads to new global temperature records.